Minnesota Poll results: Mayor Frey, Minneapolis City Council and defunding the Minneapolis Police Department
By Star Tribune
The Star Tribune, MPR News and KARE 11 interviewed 800 Minneapolis registered voters between Aug. 10 and Aug. 12. That sample included interviews with 525 self-identified white registered voters and 146 African-American registered voters. An additional 354 interviews were conducted Aug. 6 to Aug. 12 with African-American registered voters in Minneapolis, for a total of 500 interviews. This is commonly referred to as an "oversample," and allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of the responses of white voters and Black voters.
Findings from questions about Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, the City Council, and potential changes to the police department are below. The margin of error for the sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters is ± 3.5 percentage points. The margin of error for the sample of 500 African-American Minneapolis registered voters is no more than ± 4.5 percentage points. Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding. Scroll down the page for details about how the poll was conducted and a demographic breakdown of the respondents.
Do you think Minneapolis should or should not redirect some funding from the police department to social services, such as mental health, drug treatment or violence prevention programs?
Should Should not Not sure: 3% 73% 24% Should Should not Not sure TOTAL 73% 24% 3% Male 68% 28% 4% Female 78 20 2 White 72 25 3 Black 76 19 5 Other 77 21 2 18-34 88 10 2 35-49 80 16 4 50-64 63 35 2 65+ 59 38 3 No college degree 71 25 4 College graduate 75 23 2 DFL/ Democrat 85 12 3 Republican 27 72 1 Independent/ other 63 35 2 Should Should not Not sure: 5% 76% 19% Should Should not Not sure TOTAL 76% 19% 5% Male 70% 21% 9% Female 81 17 2 Under 50 81 12 7 50+ 71 25 4 No college degree 75 19 6 College graduate 77 18 5 Do you think Minneapolis should or should not reduce the size of its police force?
Should Should not Not sure 40% 44% 16% Should Should not Not sure TOTAL 40% 44% 16% Male 36% 47% 17% Female 44 41 15 White 41 44 15 Black 35 50 15 Other 42 40 18 18-34 61 24 15 35-49 44 40 16 50-64 24 59 17 65+ 30 57 13 No college degree 39 43 18 College graduate 41 45 14 DFL/ Democrat 46 37 17 Republican 16 80 4 Independent/ other 37 47 16 Should Should not Not sure 35% 50% 15% Should Should not Not sure TOTAL 35% 50% 15% Male 35% 44% 21% Female 35 55 10 Under 50 44 35 21 50+ 26 65 9 No college degree 36 50 14 College graduate 32 50 18 In the last few years, do you feel crime in Minneapolis has increased, has been reduced or has stayed the same?
Increased Reduced: 5% Same Not sure: 2% 51% 42% Increased Reduced Same Not sure TOTAL 51% 5% 42% 2% Male 50% 4% 44% 2% Female 52 6 40 2 White 45 5 48 2 Black 66 2 31 1 Other 58 7 34 1 18-34 35 3 58 4 35-49 43 4 52 1 50-64 59 7 33 1 65+ 69 8 21 2 No college degree 54 7 38 1 College graduate 48 4 45 3 DFL/ Democrat 45 5 47 3 Republican 81 0 18 1 Independent/ other 52 8 38 2 Increased Reduced: 2% Same Not sure: 1% 66% 31% Increased Reduced Same Not sure TOTAL 66% 2% 31% 1% Male 54% 2% 43% 1% Female 75 2 22 1 Under 50 57 2 39 2 50+ 74 2 24 0 No college degree 65 2 33 0 College graduate 67 3 24 6 If Minneapolis were to significantly reduce the size of its police force, what effect do you think it would have on public safety?
Positive effect Negative effect No significant effect Not sure 26% 48% 14% 12% Positive effect Negative effect No significant effect Not sure TOTAL 26% 48% 14% 12% Male 24% 52% 15% 9% Female 27 44 14 15 White 26 50 11 13 Black 25 49 18 8 Other 27 40 23 10 18-34 40 25 21 14 35-49 29 42 18 11 50-64 13 65 13 9 65+ 19 64 3 14 No college degree 24 49 25 12 College graduate 27 48 14 11 DFL/ Democrat 30 39 17 14 Republican 4 85 6 5 Independent/ other 24 56 10 10 Positive effect Negative effect No significant effect Not sure 25% 49% 18% 8% Positive effect Negative effect No significant effect Not sure TOTAL 25% 49% 18% 8% Male 22% 45% 22% 11% Female 28 51 15 6 Under 50 29 37 26 8 50+ 22 60 10 8 No college degree 25 48 19 8 College graduate 26 49 15 10
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey?
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion 50% 27% 23% Favorable Unavorable No opinion TOTAL 50% 27% 23% Male 47% 30% 23% Female 52 24 24 White 49 30 21 Black 60 13 27 Other 43 28 29 18-34 40 28 32 35-49 49 28 23 50-64 57 24 19 65+ 53 27 20 No college degree 48 27 25 College graduate 51 27 22 DFL/ Democrat 60 21 19 Republican 6 66 28 Independent/ other 42 25 33 Favorable Unfavorable No opinion 60% 13% 27% Favorable Unfavorable No opinion TOTAL 60% 13% 27% Male 61% 16% 23% Female 59 10 31 Under 50 55 17 28 50+ 64 8 28 No college degree 60 13 27 College graduate 58 13 29 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Minneapolis City Council?
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion 43% 33% 24% Favorable Unfavorable No opinion TOTAL 43% 33% 24% Male 43% 35% 22% Female 42 32 26 White 40 38 22 Black 50 26 24 Other 45 21 34 18-34 54 20 26 35-49 46 28 16 50-64 37 41 22 65+ 32 48 20 No college degree 44 32 24 College graduate 41 34 25 DFL/ Democrat 53 24 23 Republican 10 67 23 Independent/ other 31 42 27 Favorable Unfavorable No opinion 50% 26% 24% Favorable Unfavorable No opinion TOTAL 50% 26% 24% Male 54% 26% 20% Female 47 27 26 Under 50 47 28 25 50+ 54 25 21 No college degree 52 25 23 College graduate 45 30 25 Who do you trust more to make decisions about the future of the Minneapolis Police Department?
Mayor Frey City Council Not sure 33% 42% 25% Mayor Frey City Council Not sure TOTAL 33% 42% 25% Male 36% 45% 19% Female 30 40 30 White 32 43 25 Black 43 38 19 Other 25 45 30 18-34 18 66 16 35-49 24 49 27 50-64 52 29 19 65+ 39 22 39 No college degree 33 41 26 College graduate 33 44 23 DFL/ Democrat 30 48 22 Republican 39 25 36 Independent/ other 38 36 26 Mayor Frey City Council Not sure 43% 38% 19% Mayor Frey City Council Not sure TOTAL 43% 38% 19% Male 47% 36% 17% Female 39 40 21 Under 50 37 45 18 50+ 48 32 20 No college degree 45 37 18 College graduate 36 43 21 About the poll
The findings of this Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll are based on live interviews conducted Aug. 10 to Aug. 12 with 800 Minneapolis registered voters. That sample included interviews with 525 self-identified white registered voters and 146 African-American registered voters. An additional 354 interviews were conducted Aug. 6 to Aug. 12 with African-American registered voters in Minneapolis, for a total of 500 interviews. This is commonly referred to as an "oversample," and allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of the responses of white voters and Black voters. This poll was conducted for the Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio News and KARE 11 by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy Inc.Those interviewed were randomly selected by computer from a phone-matched Minneapolis voter registration list that included both land line and cellphone numbers. For the sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters, 29% of the interviews were conducted via land line and 71% via cellphone. For the sample of 500 African-American registered voters, 26% of the interviews were conducted via land line and 74% via cellphone.The margin of sampling error for the sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than ± 3.5 percentage points. This means there is a 95 percent probability that the "true" figure would fall within that range if all voters were surveyed. The margin of sampling error for the sample of 500 African-American Minneapolis registered voters is no more than ± 4.5 percentage points. The margin of error is higher for any subgroup, such as a gender or age grouping.Sampling error does not take into account other sources of variation inherent in public opinion surveys, such as nonresponse, question wording or context effects. In addition, news events may have affected opinions during the period the poll was taken.The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents of the sample of 800 Minneapolis registered voters is 62% Democrats, 10% Republicans and 28% independents or other. The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents of the sample of 500 African-American Minneapolis registered voters is 63% Democrats, less than 1% Republicans and 37% independents or other.The demographic profile of this poll of registered voters is an accurate reflection of their respective voter populations. This determination is based on more than 100 statewide polls conducted by Mason-Dixon in Minnesota over the past 32 years – a period that spans eight presidential election cycles that began in 1988.Readers can e-mail questions to matt.delong@startribune.com.Demographics
PARTY DFL/ Democrat 495 (62%) Republican 79 (10%) Independent/ other 226 (28%) AGE 18-34 195 (24%) 35-49 232 (29%) 50-64 206 (26%) 65+ 163 (20%) Refused 4 (1%) RACE White/ Caucasian 525 (66%) Black/ African American 146 (18%) Hispanic/ Latino 58 (7%) Asian/ Pacific Islander 42 (5%) Other 22 (3%) Refused 7 (1%) GENDER ID Male 387 (48%) Female 411 (51%) Other 2 (<1%) EDUCATION High school
or less 170 (21%) Some college/
Vocational 178 (22%) College graduate 274 (34%) Graduate degree 171 (22%) Refused 7 (1%) INTERVIEW Land line 231 (29%) Cellphone 569 (71%) PARTY DFL/ Democrat 313 (63%) Republican 2 (<1%) Independent/ other 185 (37%) AGE 18-34 130 (26%) 35-49 119 (24%) 50-64 134 (27%) 65+ 116 (23%) Refused 1 (<1%) GENDER ID Male 227 (45%) Female 272 (54%) Other 1 (1%) EDUCATION High school
or less 192 (38%) Some college/
Vocational 204 (41%) College graduate 84 (17%) Graduate degree 19 (4%) Refused 1 (<1%) INTERVIEW Land line 131 (26%) Cellphone 369 (74%)
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